Case-Shiller Home Pricing Report

Data released this morning by Standard & Poor’s showed an annual decline of 3.7 percent in November for the 20-city composite reading of its S&P/Case-Shiller home price index. Analysts were expecting a year-over-year drop in the range of 3.2 to 3.4 percent. Eighteen cities were in negative territory. Detroit and Washington, D.C. were the only exceptions. At -11.8 percent, Atlanta continued to post the lowest annual return.

Both the 10- and 20-city composites of the closely watched index posted declines of 1.3 percent between October and November. Among the 20 cities tracked, 19 saw average home prices slip month-over-month. The only positive was Phoenix, where prices rose 0.6 percent from October to November.

Seattle reached new cycle lows in November, but does show pockets of improvement. Also with inventory levels coming down and buyer activity picking up, we should start to see some improvement in the Seattle real estate market over the coming months.